I have such a problem with the blending aspect of men's cuts. The style I am referring to is the one w/ #2 on bottom and spiky on top. I start w/ #2 guard and go up to the occipital bone, then cut the top and blend blend blend the rest. I spend way too much time w/ the blending, and still, there are areas that look like I didn't blend at all. Because of this, I stress about these types of men's cut. Maybe I'm not going up far enough with the # 2? And that's causing a need for excess blending? Please help with any and all suggestions. Thanks

do the #2 like you do, but then put a #3 on for just around the edge right where the #2 part ends, I go up & side to side with the buzzer. then I blend the rest with my shears. I start with one horizontal cut around the edge (this gets the long escapees & sharpens the line a little.) then I blend the rest vertically.

does this make sense? it's hard to write what I do- this is easier done than said! :-)

Alesia explained just fine. Take You shears over comb and walk around the client to get a look at diffrent angles. Don't stress. You want them to walk out looking goood and sometimes that takes time to get it right. There is nothing worse I hate then to see one of the sylists let their customer walk out with dark un even lines in their hair where they didn't take their time to blend.

You can start with a bigger guard too. Maybe a 4 or 5 then go shorter with the guards until you get the length you are looking for. It's just time and practice. I don't like those either JD. That's just plain lazyness.

When you are working with the clippers, start with the #2 guard below the hairline, put your other hand on the top of the head to hold it steady. In one SMOOTH motion run the clippers straight up the head until you reach the occipital bone and then continue that angle up from the head until there is not more hair. The problem is if you arch the clippers away from the head as soon as you hit the occipital bone you will build a weight line which will be very time consuming to blend, the other problem is if you arch the clippers towards the head AFTER the occipital bone you will make them look like the have a flat head and cut your "spiky" parts off. It helps to imagine that you are cutting a really long flat top. You want to keep your shape square.

If you start on the side of the head instead of the back of the head, it may be easier due to the fact that the head doesn't protrude. On the side of the head place the clippers below the side burn and secure the head from moving and straight up and down with the other hand and run the clippers STRAIGHT up the head, making sure you keep the clippers against the head UNTIL you reach the recession and then continue STRAIGHT up towards the ceiling. Pulling away will build up a weight line, and allowing the clippers to 'roll' over the head will cut the hair too short that blends the sides to the top...

Russell, thanks so much for your explanation. I learned more from that than I did in school regarding clipper cuts. The lightbulb went off in my head while I was reading your response. Mc, Alesia, and JD--thank you all for your help too. You guys are all great. I can't wait to do my next cut to try out these suggestions. Usually I dread men's haircuts, but now I "have a plan." Thanks.

I have alot of 0 fade clients because people have logic of fade the the blade inward, then can't get the line back out. Which is just fine with me, of course, MOST of the time, I can fix it. I'm still looking for that just the right stand that says "Huidini doesn't work here anymore".

Anonymous

Posted: Thursday, March 04, 2004 3:40:00 AM

Does anybody know any good men's cuts videos worth buy. I am awful with clipper cuts and I need all the help I can get.

I found this posted by Carlena on the "for students only" section of BTC. . . hope this helps! (Our school had these, too, in our video library. They were great. It's true, J.Jones doesn't try to sell prducts or anything either. just good techniques. That's refreshing.

Carlena says"I also bought the entire Jim Jones series. His videos were more expensive but (I felt) worth every penny. He shows clipper cuts (electric clippers). . . also shows razors, blending shears, scissors, etc. Explains how to use them and why. He also uses models who are male, female, young, seniors, he even used his grand daughter in one. He used people who had all different hair textures, too. He didn't try to sell anything or any particular brand either (either did the Frances London Dubose videos--except her "Cutting and Finishing Techniques" one--she keeps mentioning her line of products. I'm sure they're great, but NOT what I bought the video for, to hear an infomercial-type video).

I bought the Frances London Dubose videos from a place in Boston (??): 1-800-343-7628 ("Tony"). They arrived quickly.

I ordered the Jim Jones videos directly from his business in Michigan--1-800-962-6178. They also arrived quickly.

I'm sure you also can find these videos on the web by typing search engine www.google.com and typing in their names."

This is how I do a #2 fade. I have tried many different techniques through the years and this is what I have settled on.

I take the #2 in the back and I run it up the head and keep it moving upward towards the ceiling until I run out of head. In other words, once the head starts to curve, that is when I just keep my blade moving upwards and the hair just gradually gets longer. Move your clipper slowly to give the blade a chance to munch as much hair as possible. (I use an OSTER 76 and find fades unbelievably painless now) I do this all around the head. Then, I move to my scissors and cut the top, I usually start with a mohawk section and cut a strip out to set a length guide and then I go from there and just sort of 90 degree layer the top. After I get the top cut with scissors, I take a blending comb and blend the previously clippered sides and back into the freshly cut top by using a clipper over comb technique using my 000 blade. I hope you know what a blending comb is and can try one sometime. It is my new best friend since I tried one a few months ago and realized how much time I was wasting blending in shear over comb!!!

Then I edge the whole thing out with my oster T finisher and I am finished!!! Fades used to make me a nervous wreck, especially 1 fades and lower, and when you get some young fussy kid who keeps checking his sides in the mirror, switching his head side to side repeatedly, it doesn't help the nerves. LOL....

I have also found that most guys want their fades cut higher than the occipital, which defies what most of us were taught at beauty school about clippering. I can't remember the last time I actually cut a fade that the clippering ended at the occipital. Anyone else finding this?

I love talking about haircutting.... it is so enlightening! Thanks, TWStylist

Anonymous

Posted: Monday, March 08, 2004 5:39:00 PM

I don't mean to sound stupid, (I'm new at hair), butwhat's a guard. I find that all the mens haircuts i do, the back of the head is always patchy. I tried to do the clipperover comb and it was getting deep patches like spots. Help!!!!

Make sure you are bringing your clipper up evenly to the same imaginary line when you do your clippered portion. (Imagine a ring around the head dipping slightly in the back, and running even with itself on the sides, and clipper to that) And when you are running your clipper over the head, when the head begins to round, do not follow the round. Rather keep your clipper moving upward and let yourself run out of head. Does that make sense?

I will also say here that sometimes heads have areas that are just more densely packed with follicles and those areas will look thick and spotty no matter what.

Hope this helps.

Anonymous

Posted: Monday, March 22, 2004 10:04:00 AM

Thanks, Chrissy. I have been looking for some new, interesting videos to help me improve. I'll give these a try. ;)

I find it easier to blend using clipper over comb. Using a flat comb that is the width of my clippers to avoid bald spots. These are sometimes calles hess combs or flat top combs you just comb the part you want to blend in out from the head until the shoter falls out and what is lest you clipper off. But you want to make sure that the comb is parallel with the side of the head when doing a squared fade, and when doing a rounded fade you hold the comb with the shape of the head. It is also sometimes a good idea to taper the end of the blend outside your comb with a thinning shear. Any way thats how i do it. I have to have my flat top combs can't work without them.

I just strictly use scissor over comb, and get a better result, guards rubs onto the scalp so places like the occipital bone you'll have bumps on the fade on the back also.

not only does it look more professional doing clipper over comb, the job also comes out much nicer, if the guy wants a real close like a number 1 on the bottom I just use a comb as a guard at the bottom, and or freehand scissor.

and another note for JOANN. what everybody said is right but sometimes i notice that even if you have everything blended perfectlty(no points) the hair still looks patchy in areas. i find this do to the fact that men have different texturess throughout their hair,especially in the side burn areas or when they are going grey. what i find that helps is taking my thinning shears and running over the area (scissor over comb) and thinning out the more dense hair patches. and i also look in the mirror to make sure both sides are symetrical and also looking at the back area to make sure everything has a clean outline.

another tip to is if you see a spot on the side of the head that seems longer , just slide the tip of your shears under that area and lift it up and then slide your comb under it and snip it off. most of the time this will take care of it. hope this helps and makes sense.

i use trimmer over comb but use a wider tooth comb than a cutting comb taper it down with this method as for athe areas you see that does look even but are razor the ends of the hair a bit that should take care of that it took me about a year or so to finally get it right my stepdad has really straight hair and it is white at the roots and grey in the longer ends so without doing these techniques his hair looks like a bowl cut yuk even though everything is the same and it is blended hope this helps

Using 'guards' (otherwise known as 'sleds') is incredibly amateurish. This is for home haircutting, not for a professional.

Any well-trained barber can cut hair without using a guard on the blade. It's usually Cosmetologists posing as barbers who need guards to create even cuts, but Barbers can do it freehand.

It's such a shame that the real skills have almost vanished from the workplace today. Years ago any self-respecting Barber wouldn't be caught dead using a guard on his clipper.

The cutter who asks the client "what number guard do you want"? should be ashamed of themselves...The client can buy a clipper and guard set at Wallgreen's for $12.00 and do it at home if they want that degree of amateurishness.

Does anyone remember when clippers were not electrically powered but worked by hand? There used to be skill involved in Barbering, but today it's a bad joke. Can't anyone taper hair using a comb and scissors, or comb and (guardless) clipper?

I can too. However it is extremely difficult to clipper or blending shear over comb if they want a 0-1 fade... I use removable blades, not guards that make that AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNG NOISE. It sounds like a WEED WACKER! HAHA. Anyhow, if I am tapering very close around the edges, I will use my clippers, and refine the ends with blending shears over comb so they don't have that harsh-hacked edge... very very nice and detailed like a fine car....

I finish all of my short cuts with my trimmer and cutting comb to taper the line down nicely. It just finishes the cut and allows it to grow in beautifully. The cutting comb is important in finishing this way- it leaves a cleaner look.

For my clipper cuts I'm using a cordless chargable clipper- Wahl Flair. It's nice but I'd really like to get my hands on one that uses blades instead of guides- I want a better cut that I don't have to go over to get rid of the scragglies. Even though I'm excellent at really short cuts I still have yet to get the guts to do a total cut just using my trimmers and comb. We'll see, now that it's planted in my head I'll try it soon.

I use the Oster Turbo 111 great clippers great blades. A little on the heavy side.... Go for it scissor over comb if they don't want it super shorter than what it is. If they do, you can do clipper over comb. Using the comb and not the blades for guards helps you not have to get rid of any lines later... because you follow the head easier with a comb. I don't know how to explain it, I feel like I am rambling! hahaha

Britboy, no truer words have been spoken on this forum. The technical state of the industry is appalling. Look no further than the current issue of Modern Salon. Just look at how technically embarrassing the cover hairstyle is. AND IT MADE THE COVER!!! What does that say about our industry?

i totally agree with the cover...there scrapin the barrel or something. i have to say half my male clients get the clippers and the other half gets the scissors. the clipper guys want in and out and they don't want me to spend the extra time doing a "real" cut so to speak. i just base it on my clients taste...well in most cases. sara

Hi everybody i just started working and i get so many mens haircuts all the time and most of them are 0 fades, but it seems i cannot get it to blend in to the top hair i've tried the scissor over comb technique but if anybody knows any other techniques PLEASE let me know thanx!!

Hi everybody i just started working and i get so many mens haircuts all the time and most of them are 0 fades, but it seems i cannot get it to blend in to the top hair i've tried the scissor over comb technique but if anybody knows any other techniques PLEASE let me know thanx!!

As long as you can fade from skin..... the top part is easy... Personally I use blending shears. This helps get rid of the line. Don't press the clippers to hard on the scalp as you pass the natural curve of the head- continue upwards -or your haircuts will look like Marine jar-heads. If you have changeable blades, you can start with a one and go back over the bottom half with the zero- again when you near the part you want it to blend press lightly and pull the top of the clippers toward you as you near the section you want to stop cutting. (From the side view it will look as if you are drawing a backwards C agains the head)- I don't know how else to describe it. You can also buy Oster clipper mate combs. They have very thin ones which are meant for clipper over comb so you can get real close for blending. Hope this helps!

I am a student and some of my guy friends are letting me practice on them and they like clipper cuts. I bought Oyster clippers and I have done good until last night when I accidentally got too close w/ the blending guard. I didn't use the blending guard on the guy before him and the cut turned out great I just blended with scissors and used the clipper over comb. I guess I just need some encouragement because after last night I am feeling really bad and I want to be able to do clipper cuts w/out mistakes and if something tragic happens I want to be able to fix it...Asking for advice...and any good LIGHT weight clippers that I can buy...

I have to agree with Brits comments, 2 years ago I got the chance to work with a Barber, in his shop. I learned the difference in low end and high end clippers, comb over clipper blending and scissor over comb blending. Plus the difference's in the shears from there's to ours. Barbers shears have ridges in the blades, where out shears are a smooth blade. hence if you do a cearsar cut, you can't do it with barber shears, but can with our smoother blades, (slide cutting) Since that time I improved 500% on my mens cuts, and now can cut and blend the worst cow licks there are. If you get a chance to spend time with an old school barber I TOTALLY recommend it. You really won't understand what you Don't know until you do.Clear your mind! You hind end will follow.

An Oster clipper is great for mowing through a lot of hair but for fine detail work it's just too big. You need a clipper with an adjustable head to be able to blend smoother. Some heads are more difficult to blend than others. Check out the Andis Master clipper.

Mastery comes with time AND previous failure. If it was easy then everyone could do it and you would be so special.

Thanks for your help. I will try Andi's...I did notice that the Oster clippers were heavy and kind of big for my hand. I am going to watch a salon owner/stylist do some clipper cuts tomorrow and I am going to contact one of the barbers to see if I can get some more tips. I just want to do the best artwork possible and I don't like feeling confused or like I don't have a clue...I know a lot of that comes with time and experience but even if I am nervous I don't want my clients to be able to detect it. Thanks again.

The barber I spent time with had 4 different clippers total. Osters with many blades for the Mowing as hairmaven mentioned. 2 different adjustable types, a smaller t blade and then trimmers. Good luck, and practice practice.Clear your mind! You hind end will follow.

I have to disagree with you about clippers and guards. There are professional clippers and nonprofessional kinds. Believe me, I tried them all to save money.

I , for one, did not go to barbering school and did not learn clipper cuts until I was out on the floor. They taught us how to use the clipper with the guards (which by the way come with the clipper). And I for one am no amateur.

Have you ever tried doing a free hand clipper cut, scissor over comb on a 18 month old child? Or how bout any child?

This is what I do, I work at Kids Kuts. And that is all we do all day, cut kids hair. Yes, this is the field I chose. You can not take your time and you can not have open blades around children. One quick move and the clipper will pinch and the child (or anyone) will start to bleed.

Have you ever tried to fix a home buzz cut? I didn't think it was even possible to screw that up, but I've seen it.

I can assure you Brit was not talking about doing children in his post, he was talking about the art of Barbering and how it is not being passed down to the next generation of stylists, but now that you have brought it up. Back in the 30's 40' and 50's do you think a man would have taken his son to a beauty parlor to get his hair cut... NO, but then again the children had the respect of an elder, and would have sat still in a barber chair and gotten there hair cut, unlike most children today that have parents that can't control them.

Don't get me wrong. I do a tone of kids in my shop and I understand your post and the direction you are coming from. But I think you missed the point brit was trying to make.

I have many older male clients that want a traditional dry scissor over comb cut like a barber did in there day. In my area even the trained barbers are unable to do this old school skill and I have acquired several older cliental from learning this technical way of cutting

Not to put you down, only asking a question, but don't you feel your limiting your self working only with children. How do you keep up the rest of your skills, with the chemicals and other changing technical things that are always evolving?

Clear your mind, your hind end will follow

Anonymous

How Long?Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 7:21:07 PM

How long should it take you to do a mens clipper cut with scissors on top. I am taking at least 30 minutes and can't figure out how to make it go faster without it looking like crapola? Any ideas? I noticed the stylist next to me does them in 15-20 minutes. She's also very rough however and I've heard the clients complain to her. I've also seen them have to come back to her chair for missed hairs. I work in a chain salon and can't do more then 2 or 2.5 men per hour.

MC,Thanks for reaffirming my thoughts. I think as you do - it takes as long as it takes to get it looking nothing less then great. I work in a hack shop but I'm not worried about volumn as much as I worry about quality. I know most people don't think it matters in a hack shop but since I won't be there after I'm fully secure that I am doing fantastic cuts worth much more I am using this job for practice at perfecting my skills and moving on. Luckily I don't have to make a lot of money right now but someday...someday!

Anonymous

tayalynnPosted: Thursday, August 04, 2005 12:00:28 PM

Just remember one thing, You line of thinking is fine for useing the chop shop to learn and better your skills. Just be realistic that when you get to the point that you are bettrer and need to move on that most of those client are not going to follow you to a pricier place. They come to those places only for the price, and are willing to get a bad cut and get it fixed to save a buck.

Just my 2 cents

Mcoupland

Anonymous

McouplandPosted: Friday, August 12, 2005 4:51:00 PM

I totally agree. There are really no clients that I can think of that would follow me to even a mid priced salon - I'd be very surprised if somebody did. I'm not too worried though since I'm a military spouse and we move every two to three years anyway. Right now I'm worried about educating myself and getting better. When I feel extremely confident with all phases of cutting I'm moving on to more intense color education and so on. I love the education part of this business. We'll retire in 7 years from the military (we're young retiree's though) and by then I'm hoping I can open my own small shop with a couple of chairs and start to really build a clientele over time. So I'm not fooling myself one bit. I'm just taking my time in a chop-shop (not making great money but good enough) and doing the best cuts that I can!

Anonymous

UPDATE!Posted: Friday, August 12, 2005 4:58:34 PM

A couple of posts up I told you about a woman who can do two hair cuts to my one. Last Sat. 3 men complained to the manager that she was too rough with them. One guy even got up in the middle of the haircut and asked the manager for someone else. He said she was jerking his head around and digging the guards into his scalp. The receptionist said that was the 3rd guy of the day to complain. Now I know how she gets them done so quickly! By the time she gets done the client flees from the salon and I never get to see how good or bad her cuts really are. I'll just take my time thank you! Technique, technique, technique.

By the way HairMaven. My cosmo teacher used to complain because my haircuts were TOO technically perfect and it was costing me too much time on each client (40 minutes each in school). Can you believe that? Complaints about technically perfect haircuts, from a teacher no less?~ What is this world coming too!Ha!Taya

I once was told that hairdressers care more about blending where it does or does not, but most men just want a cut and out and are not bothered about the nitty gritties and that gave me full confidence in going on.

My question is: how do you get a smooth bald shave on someone who has lots of lumps and bumps. I did one and he had a carpet design instead of a smooth bald. Poor man had to go back to the army the next day.

I use guards on my oster clippers only the 3 to 5 everything else i use metal detachable blades and my cuts finish flawlessly. I'm sure scissor over comb has a quality finish i would love to learn it. But i do not see anything "amatuerish" about guards I am a professional and my clients are completely satisfied with finished look.

Hi there, I have shaved a few heads clean, and you need to use a succession of blades to acheive clean and not burn someone. First you take the length off, then you go down close like with a 1 or a 0. Depending on if you use blades or guards. I love the blades my Oster uses, nice clean and precise.When you're done with the 0, you take it all off with the 000. Any lumps or bumps on the head and you need to shave them too like how a man would shave his chin, pull the skin taut and go at it in different directions. use caution with clippers though, they get hot. I keep one finger on the blade all the time to moniter temp.Good luck!!

Excuse Me!! I can very well, use just a scissor and comb for any fade... but we have been given clippers with guards and well, it is easier and faster and PRODUCES THE SAME RESULT!!!!! SO... the reason we use clippers WITH A GUARD is to get our client out of the salon quicker and easier... which means, more convenient for them, easier for us, and potentially more money (because time is money)... so you see, clippers are a great idea... oh and sure they can buy clippers themselves, but unless they just want a buzz cut, i'd love to see them try to fade the back of the haircut... i totally understand the art and skill of a cut with no clippers, but don't yell at us for using a tool that will be better for us in the future of our business and clientelle. It does not mean that we cosmetologists are any LESS skilled than you. We just choose to use our resources. Thats all I have to say.

Uh, I have found that beauty school teaches you very little about clipper cutting...It really is an art. I worked for a barber for one year (though I mainly do womans hair) I also worked on a navy base for 6 months too which you HAVE to have accuracy and speed. If I can suggest anything learn how to use clipper over comb. your cut will be more consistant. Shears over comb looks good too, but the clipper will save you a lot of time. Find a good strong barber comb, not a flimsy girl comb and hold horizontally. pick the hair up and scoop out, you'll see where the last line was cut. Keep moving, your comb and pull your clippers straight acrossed the comb as you go, work back a forth. Go to a barber as ask if you can watch for a day and tell them you'll be a helper for them. Honestly it took me a year to perfect mens cuts, I can pick out a crappy hair cut on any guy now, you'll know once you get it down. It just takes practise, you'll do great!! Hope this helps. k

This isn't quite right. Clippers have their place, and can't completely replace scissors.

The texture and density of the hair define what to use. Generally speaking, if you can "see through" the hair to the scalp on the nape or sideburns, it is NOT ADVISABLE TO USE CLIPPERS. AT ALL.

Close-ended curls, such as a Jewish or Spanish type curl won't sit properly and needs to have length and dry cut the shape around to make it sit better. Look at John Mayer's new cut, this is done because his hair would look odd if it was clippered.

If you are charging top dollar for a cut, you should only be pulling out those clippers once or twice a month. Speaking as an analogy, it's like trying to cut the dress shape out of a bolt of expensive fabric with a hedge clipper- they DO leave marks, unwanted weight, and sometimes cut too short where you really want to leave texture and length.

A good example of this is on Asian men. YOU CANNOT drive the clipper more than an inch from the bottom or the hair will flay out and look hideous.

Invest in a good pair of texturizing shears, and a cordless trimmer that is sharp enough to double as a clipper. I love my cordless Forfex.

You should also buy a barber's comb, it is finer and thinner, if you scissor over comb it can go even shorter than the 1 blade.

I can scissor over comb just as fast as a clipper. The big problems with clippers is that they can't be cleaned easily or people forget; try cutting someone with black hair right after a grey haired client, (ick)

The need for speed, or a refined experience? Your call.

NEVER scissor over comb soaking wet. Build out the rest of the cut, and let it air dry 90% before starting.

Barbering is a underappreciated skill, if you took a guy from the sixties and stood him next to a guy today (both having the same cut), who's is gonna look better? The guy from the 60's who had his hair cut by a barber.

There's nothing wrong with using a guard, but we should all strive to grow in our industry, and when you can give a guy a short hair cut with out using a guard on you clipper or by using clipper over comb technique, you've got skill.

"Who knows more"? Well, when it comes to mens cutting, the barber by far.

I do most blending with scissors, not clippers. I then use a trimmer and go through after it is dry.

If you are having a lot of trouble, I would tell you to start looking at the combs you are using as well. I have many different kinds, my favorite is the beige cricket with even teeth on the full length of the comb, I have another that is wide teeth on on side and fine on the other.

You also need a thick comb, and a taper comb, this is the one that's thinner than most combs and really small.

The texture of the hair determines which comb to use, but you could use any of them, I start with a thicker comb first than work down.

The overall idea is correct move the clipper up, when the head curves go straight for the ceiling. After I cut the top I blend clipper over comb, or scissor over comb. NEVER let a client leave if you have only looked at the cut up close. ALWAYS step back and look for dark spots, I personally have a distant mirror I use so that I can refrence it while doing the cut. If there is a dark spot or a line it needs to be blended. It takes time but you will get it.

When cutting or blending a fade always cut the top first. Next, remove the excess weight from the round of the head area of the haircut. Make sure this area blends into the top. Now, perform the clipper portion of the haircut. As you move up the side of the head with the clippers very slowly arc the clipper away from the head just below the round or widest part. Since you already removed the excess weight there will be very minimal to no blending required.